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Taiping Space Program
Overview Since the first satellite was launched into space in the midst of the cold war, a space program is always a vanity symbol, like the ornaments on a poodle or the cover of an Ipod, to nations. And indeed, until recently, it has not been of much use. However, the importance of space technology has only become more obvious as time passed. In War and peace, one of the most important things is Communication, something facilitated by Satellites for decades. Therefore, one who has hegemony over space has hegemony over communications from anything as simple as phones to advanced targeting systems. Knowing this, the Taiping Empire has attributed much of its funding in space against its main rival, the Union of Everett. In the 3-day war of February 2009, the importance of space hegemony was shown to the world when almost a million Everetti and American anti-personnel Combat Droids were completely immobilized by the loss of Everetti and American Satellites. While order was restored within minutes of the end of the war, both the Everetti and the Taiping realized the importance of control over space, and so the second space race began. As of now, the Taiping Empire actively seeks to make use of the planets not only as bases of research, but as colonies or even weapons. As such, it has used a wide mix of new technologies such as Yinghuarite/Sakuradite and Anti-gravity. As of now, it has expanded air combat not only to the atmosphere, but outside of it too. Current Production-model Systems Bailong-classed Fighter: A cruiser that may replace the Oracle, the Bailong-classed Fighter is meant to be an update on the Oracle, designed by Aureola Industries. As such, it will probably feature increased speed and the increased use of new ideas such as Stutterfire. Details remain scarce. Churchill-class battleship and interdictor: A ship designed by the British Government with Taiping assistance, the Churchill is a truly purely-military-use craft, boasting almost all the technologies created and also the new Interdictor system, which would yank atmospheric debris and crafts from hyperspace, protecting a fleet. The Churchill-class also uses British Nelson-classed snubfighters. Excelsior-class Coordination and Research Craft: A joint project between the British and Taiping governments, the Excelsior is a research craft with advanced scientific equipment and communications equipment. The Excelsior has the role of a coordination craft that, while serving as a mobile base (possessing massive stores of food and its own power generators), can also coordinate other craft. The Excelsior combined designs from the Zhang Heng-class and the Churchill-class. the Excelsior nevertheless possesses advanced antigravity defense systems such as the GOD and possesses stutterfire and radiation wave weapons. Ganymede RP-35 EV Suit: Designed by Ganymede, the EV suit allows the user to survive for some time in the vacuum of space and is far more mobile than space suits. The EV suit is standard issue for Oracle pilots. It allows 36 hours of air and limited communication through old-fashioned radio. EV suits do not allow for much movement through space, but they do have markers that allow the pilot to be retrieved at a later time. Oracle-classed snubfighter: A fighter based on airplane designs, the Oracle has been adapted to space combat. Its main weapons include rockets, Electromagnetically-propelled cannons, EMP bombs and Antigravity Shields, and the prototype Radiation Wave Missile. However, the user must wear an EV suit in order to pilot, though later designs allow the creation of artificial atmosphere inside the cockpit. While its top speed is about 65,000 MPH, somewhat slower than itshttp://images.wikia.com/common/releases_200903.1/skins/common/images/button_image.png Everetti Counterpart, the Raptor Fusion fighter, it is far more maneuverable and easier to pilot and is largely computer-assisted, though full-manual gives the greatest control and access to the best maneuvers. It is powered by the new Yinghuarite-Fusion Yggdrasil Engine, which lowers energy cost and raises efficiency at the cost of slightly lower power than the Fusion Engine. New Versions use the new Stutterfire Lasers. The Oracle uses 4 of these engines, meaning that, depending on the position, up to 2 of them can be destroyed without any significant effect on piloting. Seven Stars-Class Fighter: An update on the Oracle, the Seven-Stars Class lowers its armament in favor of speeds approaching 94,000 MPH and higher maneuverability at the cost of less energy efficiency. It employs Stutterfire lasers, Hadron cannon, EMP Protection, EMP Railguns, Radiation Wave Missiles and various defensive measures in its prototype form. At the moment, current production types are expected to be updated with time. Yi Soon-Jee-classed satellite: Unmanned satellite capable of attacking other satellites, the Yi Soon-Jee is extremely inexpensive and light and thus can be deployed in bulk, allowing them to outnumber the satellites of almost all other nations and also allowing them to be lost easily. Most are not actually even communication satellites. Its top speed is a paltry 20,000 MPH, but it boasts jamming and hacking equipment and is a good bargain for its price. Zhang Heng-classed Battlecruiser: The first Taiping Operational Space Combat Battle Station, the Zhang Heng is only 65% of the size of the Liberty and carries a crew of only 6,400, though it can be piloted with a skeleton crew of 6. It carries a squadron of 36 Oracle-classed Fighters and is self-sufficient. Weapons include prototype Lasers, Missile Launchers, EMP Cannon, Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons and Electromagnetically-propelled weapons. Defenses include artificial-gravity built barrier orbits (thousands of pieces of mirrored debris that can be scattered around the cruiser in an orbit to block attacks and dissipate lasers) and limited Anomaly Projectors (fires a missile that suddenly compresses a massive amount of matter and thus creates a massive gravitational anomaly that refract even light (slightly) or simply suck in missiles). Although far smaller, their Yinghuarite technology allow the incorporation of almost the same amount of equipment at 60% the cost of the Liberty, and allows the storage of anything from Xiaopei-classed Droids to Baima Combat Frames. Six of these cruisers are used, Four by the Taiping Empire, one on loan to the government of Great Britain and one given to the UN. Zhou Yu-classed Cruiser:' A cruiser still in design stages, it is meant to build on the original failures of the Zhang Heng. It is expected to use the Radiation Wave technology recently devised. It is confirmed that it will employ stutterfire. Major Technologies '''Anomaly Projector': A system that compacts a massive amount of matter into the size of a Coin, creating a vast gravitational vacuum that can suck in projectiles and bend the path of lasers. Still a relatively new weapon. Electromagnetic Core Cannon (ECC): A gun that works much like a railgun, using the power of magnets to forcibly propel a piece of metal at ridiculous speeds. In space, where no inertia is lost, only a tiny amount of energy is needed for less than a millisecond, and, with Yinghuarite technology, the ECC has been shrunk into a tiny, fuel-efficient minigun. It can fire at several thousand times the speed of sound, and, if it strikes any circuitry, the electromagnetic forces used to propel the bullet will remain capable of overloading any exposed circuits. EMP wave/EMP Mine: Two weapons also used, the EMP wave fires a wall-shaped blast of electromagnetic Radiation that gradually expands enough to be of no effect. However, if hit while still focused, the EMP wave will short out all electronics, meaning that in space it would be an auto-kill. the EMP Mine is simply an EMP of similar function. Gravity Orbit Defense: A system that uses gravity, it maintains an orbit of debris around the subject, usually a cruiser. The debris is usually reflective foil or the like, but anything will do. When a battle is entered, the gravity is altered so the junk, instead of forming a ring, will form a sphere of debris that will defend the user. Its reflective nature will weaken lasers by a massive amount and deflect some back at the attacker, while its large shape will snag up missiles. In battle, the gravity of one part of hte orb can also be drastically altered so this debris will fly at the speed of a bullet at an opponent and shred them. Gravity Well Interdiction System (GWIS): A relatively new application of gravity technology, the GWIS is a gravity system that creates a gravity well that will forcibly pull space debris out of space in order to defend a fleet or craft. It also yanks spacecraft in Hyperspace, the gravity having such a pull that any attempt to hyperspace out would tear the craft apart. Unfortunately, the sheer size of the GWIS means that only the massive Churchill-class can employ them. Attempts have been made to make it fit into the Excelsior. Hadron Cannon: A large cannon that fires a small amount of radioactive matter that is followed very closely by another amount. In the vacuum of space, neither would lose nor gain speed. If the first bullet strikes something, it will slow down enough that the second bullet will strike the first, splitting the atoms inside and creating a small atomic explosion. Used in Oracle-classed fighters. Ion Cannon: A technology (badly) copied from Russian and Cascadian forces, the Taiping Ion Cannon, like most Taiping weapons, specializes in its high rate of fire over its strength, However, it is eons behind its Cascadian counterparts in all other areas. Light Reflection Detection System (LRDS): A system developed alongside the Stutterfire system, the LRDS works on the same principle, firing thousands of tiny lasers in all directions and using the strength and direction of the reflected beam to find the opponent. the LRDS system removes the need for Radar and allows accurate sensing of even faster-than-sound objects. Used by all fighters. It can be fooled the same way a Laser can be fooled. Liquiglacies (Gel Barrier system): Liquiglacies is the scientific name given to a gel synthesized by the IF in the Cybele System. Its atomic structure keeps it liquid despite its ridiculous specific heat of More than 1 million kilojoules per mole. This allows it to sustain even a hit from a laser without significantly evaporating (lasers gain their power from their ability so superheat and its shockwave, both of which would be absorbed by the gel). Likely to become common in newer Taiping Ships. Metallic Integrity Modification System (MIMS): a highly theoretical idea for an inexpensive superweapon, no real MIMS actually exists save for the prototype. The idea is to, using crystal structures, modify the phase of metals and thus change a small area into powder. While this would do relatively little, it would create thousands of cracks and weak spots all over the hull that would compromise the ship's structural integrity. However, this idea was banned by the Taiping Space Command for its status as a heavy superweapon. Radiation Wave Technology: A new technology devised due to the effect of radiation on some gases in destabilizing them. The theory behind the Radiation Wave is that a given amount of gas is used as the medium and to amplify a blast of radiation that would break the gas down. With the breakdown, the gas would release massive amounts of energy in a millisecond, and the radiation would also spread into anything that the gas is touching, causing it to destabilize. Sometimes, of course, this destabilization may result in an even MORE powerful version of the material, but in most cases, this will cause the target substance to superheat and then explode. This radiation would also break apart projectiles and energy and usually superheat them, causing to implode. In practice, though, this has remained difficult. The Zhang Heng space cruiser carried a prototype radiation wave projector, while the Baima Frames of the mysterious Irregulars use a variant called the Radiation Arm, which uses canisters of gas. The main problem so far has been preventing the radiation from destroying the cannon and the user. For now, the problem has been replaced with the Radiation Wave missile, which destroys itself with the target and solves the problem of having to defend the user. Stutterfire: a new concept designed by a rising star in the Laser industry, Aureola Industries. To save the amount of energy wasted on usual lasers, stutterfire fires a weak laser similar to the ones that require nothing more than an AA battery sold in Chinatown. However, its sensors will use the light reflected (there is no object that is completely opaque and does not reflect light) to deduce the distance and strength of the target and fire a precisely timed burst of laserfire of required strength. Due to the speed of light, the whole process takes a miniscule amount of time and limits the amount of energy lost. This allows Oracle-class Fighters to even further streamline its energy so that it can spend days without refueling, and also allows auto-targeting. Yggdrasil Drive: A system that uses a fusion of the Fusion Reactor and the Yinghuarite Drives. The Yinghuarite drive amplifies power and conducts it, lowering the amount wasted and allowing a Yggdrasil Drive of the same power as a Fusion Reactor engine to use half the energy. This gives vehicles more efficiency and air time. Spacetime Rip Engines(SRE): A similar design to that of Ganymede, the Red Hare. The Red Hare utilizes spacetime rip as a minor part to the system, but this one is purely relying on that technology. Although the Red Hare is more efficient, and fast, the SRE is smaller and lighter, allowing it to be equipped to smaller ships. Ganymede Red Hare - Engine a system built by the Taiping economic group Ganymede, the Red Hare system repeatedly creates wormholes through small, temporary dimensions to "stockpile" energy that can be released in one moment to create velocity. It makes use of the limited spacetime rip technologies gained from Everett as well, though it is a more secondary part. It is expected to exceed the Everetti hyperdrive systems in terms of speed for now, though its maximum speed has yet to be tested. Its size, though, relegates it to only capital ships. Taiping National Space Defense Agency (TNSDA) The government unit in charge of maintaining the space forces of the Taiping Empire. Recently, it was split from the Taiping Space Agency in favor of a combat-based department with combat capabilities and budget. The TNSDA has recently began training the Taiping National Space Marines (TNSM) for future boarding conflicts. The TNSM forces are trained in areas with no gravity at all and use next-generation technology such as lasers, ECC and assorted weapons that do not require oxygen to run. In order to facilitate better movement, though, a new EV suit is still in the works. The TNSDA has also announced plans to also employ one division of the feared Irregulars, the mysterious unit of commandos who had managed to spirit away the Pope during the coup in Rome that led to the formation of the New Italy. Unit: Space Marine (Regular) Basic Capabilities: -Operation in null-G -Advanced Hand-to-hand fighting capabilities -Knife Throwing Weapons: -ECC ERC-34B Railgun x1 (Primary Weapon) -Tuma MTE 224 VA Handgun x1 (Sidearm) -Gravitational Randomization Grenade (GRG) x3 -Combat Knife x4 Heavy Assault Weapons (Optional): -ECC ERC-35 Heavy Electromagnetic Autocannon -Aureola Type-22 Stutterfire Laser Unit: Royal Space Marine Basic Capabilities: -Operation in Null-G and Space Vacuums -Advanced Hand-to-hand Fighting Capabilities -Proficiency with Knife Combat -Proficiency in Mathematics and Electronics -Stealth Operations Weapons: -Aureola Type-18 Light Refraction Laser Cannon x1 (Primary Weapon) -Thompson Contender G-2 x1 (Sidearm) -Thompson Contender Adapter Barrels (to allow the user to use the ammunition of enemy nations) -Electromagnetic Pulse Shrapnel Grenade x3 -Throwing Knives x2 -Combat Knife x1 -Garrote Wire x5 -Handheld Anomaly Projector x1 Heavy Assault Weapons: -ECC ERC-35 Heavy Electromagnetic Autocannon -Aureola Type-22 Stutterfire Laser -Ganymede C39 Mobile Anti-Space Missile Taiping Colonization Thus far, the Taiping Empire remains considerably behind its Everetti counterparts in terms of colonization. While the Everetti government has a fully-functional colonization ship, the the Taiping Empire uses Military-Grade Craft with smaller capacities for transport. However, the Taiping Empire hopes to produce their own Colonization ships and thus make use of the planets closest to the Earth (Mars and Venus). The Taiping Fleet at the moment has few plans on visiting other star systems, instead limiting themselves to the planetoids and planets within our own solar system. One Colonization ship is in the works, the Jo Eom Class. While it retains much of the Zhang Heng's structures (such as weapons and armor), its size will be 80% of the Liberty, while jamming equipment and Fighter Carrying-capacities will be limited to provide for more comfortable living spaces. It is meant to hold 20,000, and will use Aureola Industries-built Hyperdrives. Due to its similarity to the Zhang Heng, a Prototype is already being built. The Taiping Government has bases in the Asteroid belts and in several of Neptune's moons: Ariel, Umbriel and Titania, in addition to Taiping Airfleet Command in the Asteroid belt. A joint British-Taiping project to colonize Titan, one of Saturn's moons, is in the works. More recently, a Taiping-New Japan project has commenced, starting when New Japanese researchers discovered a large, habitable planet, named Outer Reach. Nearby, there are several other planets and planetoids which are rich in resources, and they are working on colonising them. Category: Taiping Empire